The influence of motivation on the unconscious reprocessing of automatic evaluations: the case of prejudice

Abstract

The aim of the present thesis is to study the dynamics of unconscious evaluative processes within the domain of racial prejudice. The models discussed claim that people can modify their automatic negative affective reactions towards individuals belonging to a different ethnicity if those who experience them are motivated to control them. The empirical research reported investigates whether such influence on evaluative processes stemming from the motivation not to show prejudice can also occur unconsciously.